Angel Pagan likes batting leadoff. He covets the responsibility of sparking his team's offense, whether by smacking a home run into the bleachers or causing havoc on the bases.

Pagan, quiet at the plate much of this postseason, keeps picking timely moments to make noise. His homer to open Game 4 of the National League Division Series in Cincinnati propelled the Giants to an emphatic victory, and he returned to the fray in Monday night's 7-1 victory over St. Louis in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

This time, Pagan's homer to lead off the bottom of the first carried extra meaning - it counted as a loud counterpunch in the wake of Matt Holliday's takeout slide on Marco Scutaro in the top of the inning. Giants players noticed.

Pagan ultimately put together a night worthy of Rickey Henderson - two hits, two runs, one walk. Or maybe Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is a more apt analogy, for Pagan joined Rollins (2008) as the only players to hit two leadoff homers in the same postseason.

The Giants can use power from any spot in the order. They ranked last in the majors this season with 103 home runs, including only 31 in their home ballpark. Pagan hit just one of his eight regular-season homers at China Basin.

He didn't step to the plate with designs on launching one into the right-field seats, but he knows his swings reverberate throughout the dugout.

"I take a lot of pride in being the leadoff hitter," Pagan said. "I feel like if I go, we go."

The Giants were 37-12 this season when Pagan batted leadoff and scored at least one run. They were 11-19 when he hit leadoff and didn't score.

Pagan seemed to have a lively conversation with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina as he stepped into the batter's box. It was logical to guess they chatted about Holliday's hard body block moments earlier, even if Pagan insisted the subject didn't come up.

At any rate, he planted himself in the middle of all three Giants scoring outbursts. First came the homer, then a walk to load the bases in the fourth - ahead of Scutaro's bust-it-open hit - and finally a single to load the bases in the eighth, ahead of Ryan Theriot's two-run single.

"It's nice to have him as a table setter," Posey said of Pagan. "He can get on base a lot of different ways."

Or, as outfielder Hunter Pence said, "Pagan is a very big spark. We've had a little motto since earlier in the season about stepping on the gas - and he seems to do that."

Pagan is hitting only .207 (6-for-29) this postseason, but those numbers do not convey his impact. He also made a nice catch Monday night, battling the sun to snag Jon Jay's line drive to begin the game.